Haaretz Israeli newspaper on Thursday published report saying that The Israeli president, Reuven Rivlin, has been mediating between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Yitzhak Herzog to bring the latter’s Zionist Union party into the government.

A source in the Likud right-wing party told Haaretz that the time had come for a unity government, especially with the Iran nuclear deal and growing Israeli fears.

“It may happen next week, or it may not happen for awhile, but this is the direction we are going in,” the Likud official said.

Commenting on the story, Herzog said it was “nonsense.”

Netanyahu has been aiming to expand his government for some time now, considering the fact that the coalition contains only 61 members.

Arutz Sheva website reported that Knesset speaker Yuli Edelstein earlier this week hinted at the government’s expansion, saying that “the makeup of the coalition is likely to change after the budget is approved” at the end of August.